A shovel traditionally has a scoop attached to a handle, said handle comprising a rigid shaft and a rigid hand-grip. Although satisfactory for quick or light tasks, traditional shovels are less than ideal in respect of extended, heavy tasks where the user is likely to encounter significant forces in or from the direction of the thrust. Extended use of traditional shovels can cause strain or injury to the user, especially after a long, continuous period of use, because, when the user thrusts the shovel into an object and its forward movement is arrested by contact therewith, nothing will cushion the end thrust and the resulting shock force will transmit up the user's wrist, elbow, and shoulder, tending to lead to wear, strain, and possibly injury to the user. Therefore, a shovel should ideally have a shock absorbing element to cushion the shock force.
A number of patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,374 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,954, disclose shovels with shock absorbing elements, usually in the form of a spring mechanism within a telescoping or otherwise flexible shaft. U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,829 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,768 similarly disclose shovels having flexible shafts. The problem with a shovel having a shock absorbing element in its shaft is that the shaft loses the strength and rigidity needed for the type of heavy tasks typically encountered in fields such as roofing, drain tiles, and landscaping. The flexible shaft makes lifting of heavy items awkward and cumbersome.
U.S. Pat. No. 483,477 discloses a shovel having both a flexible hand-grip and a flexible shaft which co-operate to the end thrust in unison therewith. The shaft has unrestricted or unconfined coil springs that may move laterally as well as vertically. Again, the flexible shaft would make such a shovel unsuitable for many applications where a strong shaft is required.